Basque Cultural Center — Restaurant in South San Francisco

The Basque Cultural Center is a neat event venue and restaurant in the middle of South San Francisco. It does its job in serving the local community, but I don't think the food is anything special.

We started with some escargot, which were pretty good. The snails were tender, and the sauce was rich, buttery, and garlicky. There was also some hint of lemon that helped brighten and add some contrast to the fatty richness of the sauce. We made sure to save the rest of the sauce for dipping bread.

The soup that day was a butternut squash soup. I liked that it was thick and salty enough, but it was missing the warm spices. I usually like butternut squash soup with some nutmeg or cinnamon, but I couldn't taste any in this one.

Salad came next, and I didn't really enjoy it. It was over dressed, and I dunno if it was sitting in dressing for too long or if the lettuce wasn't fresh, but a good portion of it felt wilted and not crispy. I don't think anyone in our party liked the salad.

For the entrees, most people ordered the special, which was suppose to be bacalao croquette and roast new york strip. They ran out of bacalao that night, so they served salmon instead. I didn't get to try any salmon, but the new york roast wasn't so great. It was underseasoned and tough. I was kinda glad I didn't order the special. I had the cassoulet, which was definitely better. The beans were cooked well, and I could taste the savory broth. The peppery sausage pieces also added some more flavor. There were a couple duck legs inside, but while they were tender, I thought they were pretty bland. I couldn't tell if it was duck confit or not. The breadcrumb layer on top was also too thick, so it turned into soggy clumps after a while. The overall flavor still wasn't bad.

It seems like this place has a lot of regulars who are familiar with the staff and other patrons. I like that BCC fosters that kind of close knit community, and I'm guessing most people come here for that purpose than for the flavor...

This restaurant would be fun for a small group of adults who don't mind a slow relaxed dinner. It's not a good place for kids, and probably not a good place to take a large group.

The Basque Cultural Center is a bit like a convention hall. There's a little display of Basque-American sheep herders, a display of a cute sheepherder wagon out front, two large halls, a Jai alai game court, and a restaurant.

My group was large (A wedding party with two kids). We had reserved a banquet room, but they kicked us out and and put us in the main dining room, in an awkward spot in the middle of the room. Those of us at the end of the table kept having to shuffle around to let people walk through.

We arrived before 7:00, only to discover that they actually reserved the table for 7:30. At least they allowed us to sit down early at 7:15.

We sat down around 7:15. The wine finally arrived 30 minutes later. We sustained ourselves on bread and butter until the soup arrived at 8:00. Salad at 8:30. The main entree arrived at after 9:00PM, more then 90 minutes after we sat down. Desert arrived after 9:30.

I was hungry, and was watching the other tables who also waited 90 minutes for their entree.

Food was served in courses--- soup, salad, entree then dessert. We ordered some grilled-chicken. The sauce was delicious, but the chicken was dry. All other food was average--- nothing...

Delicious, accessible, and super attentive service. So glad they're hanging in there. It was pretty quiet at lunch today, but they had multiple events going on so it was lively. Soup, salad, and mains were delicious as usual.

Nov. 2024: Still as good as ever. Rack of lamb is usually only available at dinner, but they can often accommodate requests at lunch. The daily soup is usually good regardless of what it happens to be. Today it was mushroom soup - tasty but a smidge strong on the salt. We all liked it though. The salad was crisp and refreshing. Personally I'd say the food is 4.5 - good value! The basquiase sausage was yummy. Kiddo's hamburger steak looked great. Service is attentive; they often came around offering refills of iced tea and hot water which was helpful. We enjoy the old-school atmosphere.

Review from 2020: Old school restaurant with good service and a consistently delicious rack of lamb and soup and salad. Very generous portions of soup and bread, that they refill without asking.

I find their other menu options to be inconsistent but I enjoyed my filet mignon special today and the sea bass special was tasty although a smidge overcooked. The scalloped potatoes were fantastic.

My toddler ate tons of bread and enjoyed the asparagus soup which was pretty great for us adults.

We'll be back for more! I want to try the beef...